Pulled Over

Pretty sure I’ve told you before that the Dog Walker is in the Marching Band. Yesterday they had a competition at BYU. I knew they would be getting in late, so even though he had his car parked at the high school and could drive the six blocks home, I stayed up and tried to be mostly productive. OK, I was blogging! I admit it!

Anyway, midnight rolled around and there was still no sign of him. It was a school night after all. About 12:30, he finally stumbled through the door. He was NOT happy! “What’s the matter?” I asked. “I got pulled over!” he complained. This didn’t sound good. “Did you have your license with you?” I asked. I knew his license had been sitting on my desk for most of the summer after Baby Doll dumped his wallet and I gathered up all his stuff. “Yeah, I put it in my wallet a couple of days ago,” he confessed. “Well that’s good,” I responded. He was obviously agitated.

“So tell me what happened,” I encouraged. “Well, I was taking my friend home and the police officer turned on his lights.” He squirmed a little. “I pulled over and he came to the window and I said, ‘Is something wrong?’ and he said, ‘Is there?’” This exchange seemed very confusing to my poor autistic son. He paused for a moment and then said, “I was respectful, Mom. You always have to respect a police officer.” Such a good boy!

“Then what?” I asked. “Well, he said, ‘Let’s see your license and registration.’ and I got out my license but I didn’t know what the registration was. My friend thought maybe it would be in the glovebox so he pulled out some papers until we figured out what it was.” I hope the officer was a patient man! He checked the documents and handed them back to my son. That’s when he asked my son if he had a medical problem and told him he was driving with his brights on. Then my son thanked him (no ticket!) and he said, “Drive safe!” and headed back to his patrol car.

Our city has a curfew for kids under 18 unless they are returning from work or a school activity. I’ve worried about this day ever since the Dog Walker got his license a year ago. He is a careful driver (almost too careful), but there are so many things he doesn’t understand about the world and relationships and conversations and sarcasm. One thing I’m glad he does understand is respect. I’m so proud of him for holding it together and remembering that one simple concept. Especially since neither one of us can afford a ticket.